- ALKALUROPS (Mu Bootis). The naming of stars sometimes seems random. Some bright stars within a constellation will carry no proper names, while other much fainter ones do (the classic case that of Gamma Cassiopeiae). In Bootes, the Herdsman, the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma stars carry the proper names Arcturus, Nekkar, and Seginus. Third magnitude Delta has none, but then we can reach all the way to fourth magnitude (4.31) Mu Bootis, which is called by the jaw-breaking name Alkalurops.
- Polygonal patterned ground (Wikipedia)
Polygonal, patterned ground is quite common in some regions of Mars. It is commonly believed to be caused by the sublimation of ice from the ground. Sublimation is the direct change of solid ice to a gas. This is similar to what happens to dry ice on the Earth. Places on Mars that display polygonal ground may indicate where future colonists can find water ice. Low center polygons have been proposed as a marker for ground ice. Polygonal terrain is also found on earth’s permafrost.